Pressure vessel seal and lock

ABSTRACT

The lid of a pressure vessel is sealed and locked closed by a handle which requires two distinct movements, one to break the seal, and the other to open the lid.

United States Patent Sorensen Dec. 9, 1975 [54] PRESSURE VESSEL SEAL ANDLOCK 2,823,825 2/1958 Coffman 220/314 3,045,861 7/1962 Dieter 292/257[75] Inventor' Smensen, Clmton, 3,268,254 8/1966 Vantroba.. 220/314 [73Assignee; AMF Incorporated, White plains, 3,760,743 9/1973 Walk 220/314NY. [22] Filed; Dec. 2 1974 Primary Examiner-William I. Price AssistantExaminerR. E. Hart PP N04 534,718 Attorney, Agent, or FirmGeorge W.Price; Walter Lewis [52] US. Cl. 220/314; 220/94; 220/244; 220/247 51Int. 01. B65D 45/28 ABSTRACT [58] new of 1, The lid of a pressure vesselis sealed and locked closed by a handle which requires two distinctmovements, [56] References Cited one to break the seal, and the other toopen the lid. UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 Clai s, 8 Drawing Figures2,400,614 5/1946 Vivian .t 220/314 PRESSURE VESSEL SEAL AND LOCK Thisinvention relates to sealed closures for pressure vessels, and moreparticularly, to a safety handle mechanism which requires two distinctmovements, one to break the seal and the other to open the closure.

A preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the attached sheetof drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the device showing the parts in position topermit opening the cover;

FIG. 2 is a FIG. 1 right-hand end view;

FIG. 3 is another side view showing the cover locked closed, but not yetseal closed;

FIG. 4 is a FIG. 3 right-hand end view;

FIG. 5 is still another side view showing the cover locked and sealclosed;

FIG. 6 is a FIG. 5 right-hand end view;

FIG. 7 is a left-hand end view corresponding to FIGS. 1 and 3; and

FIG. 8 is a left-hand end view corresponding to FIG. 5.

In the drawings the upper open end of a pressure vessel 10 isillustrated as being surrounded by a rim or flange 11. A lid or cover 12having a compressible ring seal 13 is adapted to be safety lock sealclosed on to the rim or flange l1.

The lid 12 is suspended off a tube 14 which extends through a pair ofrings or collars 15 fixed to the top of the lid. Tube 14 is free to turnin the collars 15.

At its left-hand end, tube 14 is mounted to a hinge block 16. Hingeblock 16 is pivoted on a pair of spaced lugs 17 fixed to flange 11. Theblock 16 and lugs 17 are hinged together by a pin 18. A spring 19 (seeFIG. 7) surrounds the pin 18 and is for purposes of putting an openingbias on the block 16 in order to counteract some of the weight of thecover.

At its right-hand end the tube 14 is provided with a handle 20. Handle20 cooperates with another block 21 fixed to the flange 11 diametricallyopposite to the hinge block 16.

Block 21 has a circular hole 22 which is intersected by a top slot 23,see also FIG. 6. The inner or lower end of the handle has a flat 24which fits in the slot 23.

Connected to the lower end of handle 20 in front of the flat 24 is astepped cylindrical member 25. Member 25 extends into the tube 14, butat times also operates in the hole 22 in block 21.

Briefly, member 25 comprises a right-hand end portion 25 and a largerleft-hand end portion 25". A close ended slot 26 extends diametricallythrough part 25" and a pin 27 extends through tube 14 into slot 26. Thisconnects member 25 and tube 14 together so that they turn together, butmember 25 is free to slide lengthwise with respect to the tube 14 forthe length of slot 26.

The part 25 has a snug fit in the hole 22 when the member 25 is pulledto the right by handle 20. Both the hole 22 and part 25 are circular inoutline and concentric with respect to each other. Part 25" is alsocircular in outline, but it is eccentric with respect to the hole 22 andpart 25. Therefore, when part 25' is in the hole 22 and the handle 20 isrotated to turn the part 25 within the hole 22, the tube 14 will belowered or raised slightly to make or break the seal. This is due to theeccentricity of the part 25".

The left-hand end of tube 14 is mounted to the block 16 by a similarstepped cylindrical member 28, but without the toggle 26,27 as with thehandle stepped 2 member 25. That is to say, the stepped member 28 hastwo parts 28 and 28". The part 28 is concentric in a hole 22 in block16, whereas the larger part 28" is eccentric. Part 28" is inside thetube 14 and keyed thereto by a pin 29 so as to turn therewith.

Thus, the two parts 25 and 28 and the two holes 22 and 22' in blocks 21and 16, respectively, are all circular in outline and on the same axisof rotation. However, since the parts 25" and 28" areoffset or eccentricwith respect to that axis of rotation, the cover is raised and loweredslightly to break and make the seal when the parts 25, 14, 28 arerotated by the handle 20.

Actually, the handle 20 is permitted only degrees of rotation. This isaccomplished'by a cam 30 on the part 28' which operates against twostops 31 on the block 16, see FIGS. 7 and 8. When the handle is rotateddown 90, the device is in seal locked closed position. When it isrotated up 90, the seal is broken, and then if the handle is then alsopushed in, the cover is unlocked so that it can be hinged to openposition as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1.

A sequence of operations will now be described. In FIG. FIGS. 2, 7 theparts are shown so that the seal is broken, the cover is unlocked, andonly the flat 24 of the handle is in the hole 22 so that the cover canbe hinged open by raising the handle 20. Now in order to lock the coverclosed, the parts are placed in the FIGS. 3, 4, 7 position. FIG. 7 hasnot changed, but FIGS. 3 and 4 have from FIGS. 1 and 2. Briefly, thehandle 20 has been pulled out to pull the part 25, which is like arotatable lock bolt or cam, into the hole 22. Now to make the seal, thatis to say, to compress the gasket 13, one must go to the FIGS. 5, 6, 8position. Thus, the handle is rotated from its up position in FIGS. 3and 4 clockwise to its down position in FIGS. 5 and 6. It was heretoforestated that parts 22, 25', 28' and 22 are all concentric on the sameaxis of rotation, whereas the parts 25", 14, and 28" are eccentric. Theeccentricity is such that when the handle is up the cover is raised, andwhen it is down, it is lowered. Thus, the parts 25 and 28 in a sense arealigned bearings for the eccentrics 25 and 28" when the handle 20 isturned.

To break the seal and open the device, the reverse procedure isfollowed. First the handle is raised. This breaks the seal. However, inorder to open the cover, another distinct movement is required, and thatis to push the handle in so that the cam lock 25' is out of the hole 22.It is only at that time that the handle can be raised.

Besides being relatively uncomplicated and low in 'cost, the deviceprovides a distinct safety feature. For

example, in pressure cooking vessels at the end of the cooking cycle, itis common to have a valve open to relieve the internal pressure.However, sometimes there is residual pressure, and when the cover isopened, it flies open in a dangerous manner. With the invention thiscannot happen because the residual pressure has to be first relieved bybreaking the seal (FIGS. 5 to 3) before the cover can be opened (FIGS. 3to 1). It should be noted that in the invention, it is very difficult,if not impossible, to open the cover without the main pressure havingbeen first relieved. This is because in the FIG. 5 position of thedevice tremendous bearing pressures are placed on the part 25 during thecooking cycle, so that it is almost physically impossible to turn part25 within hole 22 until after the main pressure has been relieved.Additionally, the parts are arranged so that an operator is compelled tofollow the proper pro- 3 cedure. In FIG. 1 the handle cannot be turneduntil it is first pulled out to place part 25 in the hole 22.Thereafter, because of the cam stop and stops 30, 31, the handle can beturned only in the one correct direction. The same applies for theopening sequence. The handle cannot be moved except first in the correctup position to first break the seal to relieve the residual pressure.Only after this has been done can the lid be opened, but this requiresthe distinctly different movement of pushing the handle in. Neithermovement can be bypassed. For example, the handle cannot be pushed in toopen the cover without first breaking the seal, because before thehandle can be pushed in, it must be first rotated to line up the flat 24with the slot 23. Similarly, the cover cannot be sealed closed withoutalso locking it shut, because before the handle can be turned down, itmust first be pulled out to remove the flat 24 from the slot 23 which,of course, puts the cam 25' in the hole 22 to lock the cover shut.

I claim:

1. A mechanism for sealing and locking a cover to an opening, saidmechanism comprising a block on opposite sides of said opening, acylindrical hole in each of said blocks, said holes being aligned on acommon axis, a cylindrical tube extending between said blocks, acylindrical bearing in each of said holes, cylindrical eccentrics oneach of said bearings extending into opposite ends of said tube, meansconnecting said eccentrics to said tube whereby said bearings,eccentrics and tube rotate in unison, means rotatable with respect tosaid tube for suspending said cover off said tube, one of said blockshaving pivotal mounting for hinged movement away from said opening, thebearing in the other of said blocks being adapted for sliding movementinto and out of the same, and handle means connected to said lastmentioned bearing to either rotate the same in its block or to move itin and out of its block.

2. In a mechanism, as in claim 1, said handle means being connected tosaid last mentioned bearing at the end thereof opposite its eccentric bya flat portion, a slot in the block of said last mentioned bearingintersecting its hole, and said flat handle portion being adapted toexit and enter said slot as said last mentioned bearing moves in and outof its block respectively.

3. In a mechanism, as in claim 2, a compressible seal located betweensaid cover and opening, wherein said handle means can be operated torotate said last mentioned bearing to turn said eccentrics to lower saidcover on said opening to make said seal only after said handle flatportion is first pulled through said slot to position said lastmentioned bearing in its block to lock said cover closed with respect tosaid opening, whereby said handle means must first be rotated to alignsaid fiat portion with said slot before said last mentioned bearing canbe moved out of its block to unlock said cover wherein said seal isalways first broken and then said cover unlocked by two distinctlydifferent movements, first a rotary one, and then a linear one, wherebysaid last mentioned bearing, handle flat portion, and block with slotoperate as a sequential safety lock for said mechanism.

1. A mechanism for sealing and locking a cover to an opening, saidmechanism comprising a block on opposite sides of said opening, acylindrical hole in each of said blocks, said holes being aligned on acommon axis, a cylindrical tube extending between said blocks, acylindrical bearing in each of said holes, cylindrical eccentrics oneach of said bearings extending into opposite ends of said tube, meansconnecting said eccentrics to said tube whereby said bearings,eccentrics and tube rotate in unison, means rotatable with respect tosaid tube for suspending said cover off said tube, one of said blockshaving pivotal mounting for hinged movement away from said opening, thebearing in the other of said blocks being adapted for sliding movementinto and out of the same, and handle means connected to said lastmentioned bearing to either rotate the same in its block or to move itin and out of its block.
 2. In a mechanism, as in claim 1, said handlemeans being connected to said last mentioned bearing at the end thereofopposite its eccentric by a flat portion, a slot in the block of saidlast mentioned bearing intersecting its hole, and said flat handleportion being adapted to exit and enter said slot as said last mentionedbearing moves in and out of its block respectively.
 3. In a mechanism,as in claim 2, a compressible seal located between said cover andopening, wherein said handle means can be operated to rotate said lastmentioned bearing to turn said eccentrics to lower said cover on saidopening to make said seal only after said handle flat portion is firstpulled through said slot to position said last mentioned bearing in itsblock to lock said cover closed with respect to said opening, wherebysaid handle means must first be rotated to align said flat portion withsaid slot before said last mentioned bearing can be moved out of itsblock to unlock said cover wherein said seal is always first broken andthen said cover unlocked by two distinctly different movements, first arotary one, and then a linear one, whereby said last mentioned bearing,handle flat portion, and block with slot operate as a sequential safetylock for said mechanism.